Printing devices are used to produce desired images, such as text and graphics, on various types of media. Due to the wide scope of applications for which printing is sought and the versatility of printing technology, printing devices are prevalent in modern offices and homes.
In some cases, printing devices may be designed to print to a variety of different types of print media, thus enhancing the versatility and utility of the devices. Many such printing devices include automatic media feeder devices that store different types of print media (i.e. different sizes and/or compositions) in separate trays. Additionally, some automatic media feeder devices may store one type of media in multiple trays, particularly when that particular type of media is used more often by the printing device than other types of media.
When such a printing device begins a printing job, it typically designates a piece of media from those available in the feeder device and requests the feeder device to provide the selected media type. The feeder device can then transport the requested piece of print media to the printing device using a print medium feed mechanism which may include, for example, motorized rollers, belts, and/or suction.
Some printing devices are coupled to several concatenated feeder devices to allow access to greater amounts of media storage and/or more types of print media. In a system of concatenated feeder devices, print media may be transported through more than one of the feeder devices before being received by the printing device.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.